After Facebook connected its Messenger service to Instagram, we all knew that interoperability with WhatsApp will be next. But since then, it’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about that and so some thought Facebook was giving up on that after all the issues that WhatsApp has been facing lately. But it looks like they haven’t really forgotten about it and now we’re seeing indications that they’re still working on it and we might be seeing it soon on your devices.
WABeta Info shares a new discovery which shows that hidden inside the Facebook Messenger code is a WhatsApp chat. Basically what this means is that Messenger will allow communication with WhatsApp. A tweet showed what looks like a forced thread so Messenger will support the chats. There’s still no way to send messages between the two apps but we can see what it might look like if this is the version that they’ll eventually release.
Just like with the Messenger and Instagram connection, this is completely optional. Once it launches, they will most likely send you a notification asking if you would like to connect your Messenger and WhatsApp accounts. And even if you don’t accept the connection, you’ll still be able to use your WhatsApp just like before without any limits. You might actually even get Messenger features on WhatsApp soon, even if you don’t connect the two.
WhatsApp has faced some issues lately, particularly regarding its updated privacy policy. Not everyone that uses the messaging app wants the main app Facebook to have access to their data. So even if WhatsApp clarifies that the one-on-one and group conversations remain private and encrypted, people are still wary that when they talk to businesses, they will have to agree to some “concessions”.
As to when we’ll see the rollout of the Messenger and WhatsApp interoperability, that’s something we don’t know yet. Since the test seems to be pretty raw, we might not see it yet anytime soon.
